Abelia plant named &#39;lavender mist&#39;

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct  Abelia  hybrid which is characterized by compact upright habit, large compound panicles of fragrant, lavender flowers with straw—green/rose sepals, and green summer foliage turning burgundy purple in the winter.

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION

Abelia hybrid

VARIETAL DENOMINATION

‘Lavender Mist’

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of theornamental flowering shrub Abelia, hereinafter referred to by thevarietal denomination ‘Lavender Mist’. ‘Lavender Mist’ originated froman interspecific cross made in 1998 between the cultivar ‘EdwardGoucher’ (unpatented) and Abelia chinensis R. Br. ‘Edward Goucher’ is apurple-flowered cultivar that was derived from an interspecific crossbetween Abelia×grandiflora and A. parvifolia (schumanii) and released in1911. Seeds from the cross were sown in 1999, and eleven seedlings wereobtained. These seedlings were planted in a field plot in Griffin, Ga.in the fall of 1999 and were evaluated for three years for flowering andfoliage characteristics, plant form and height, cold hardiness anddrought tolerance. Plant 99-6-11 was selected among these plants, andassigned the name ‘Lavender Mist’.

‘Lavender Mist’ forms a dense compact shrub with a slight spreadinghabit. A 4-year old, unpruned, field grown plant measured 159 cm talland 290 cm wide. Check cultivars ‘Compacta’ (unpatented), ‘Golden Glow’(unpatented), ‘Francis Mason’ (unpatented), ‘Little Richard’(unpatented) and ‘Rose Creek’ (unpatented) were similar in height, butall less in width.

The foliage color in summer is an attractive dark green. In the fall theleaves on the shoot tips turn burgundy purple, and by mid winter thefoliage is dark purple. ‘Lavender Mist’ is semi-deciduous in USDA Zone7.

‘Lavender Mist’ is a heavy bloomer, with clusters of lavender flowersbeginning in mid-June and continuing into autumn. Two heavy-bloomingperiods generally occur in June and again in August, with scatteredblooms throughout the rest of the season. The fragrant lavender flowersare borne in compound panicles, averaging 16 cm, long by 14 cm wide. Thesepals are straw green at base becoming rose at the tips.

Laboratory evaluations of cold hardiness in Griffin, Ga. during thewinter of 2003-04 revealed a mid-winter hardiness of −15 to −17° C.,similar to the check cultivars ‘Canyon Creek’ and ‘Rose Creek’. Plantsgrown in Blairsville and Griffin, Ga. during the 2003-04 winter had nodamage.

‘Lavender Mist’ has drought tolerance typical of abelia, and onceestablished grows and blooms without irrigation, although leaf dropoccurs under drought stress conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Plants of cultivar ‘Lavender Mist’ have not been observed under allpossible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat withvariations in environment such as light-intensity, temperature andcultural conditions, however without any variance in genotype.

The following characteristics have been consistently observed and, tothe best knowledge of the inventor, their combination forms the uniquecharacteristics of ‘Lavender Mist’ as a new and distinct cultivar.

-   -   1. Fragrant lavender flowers.    -   2. Heavy bloomer with large compound panicles on both terminal        and axillary shoots.    -   3. Five sepals per floret, straw—green at base becoming rose at        the tip.

‘Lavender Mist’ is most similar to its parent ‘Edward Goucher’, but itslarge compound panicles differ from the small axillary clusters of‘Edward Goucher’, and its lavender flowers and dark green leaves differfrom the violet flowers and bright green leaves of the parent.

‘Lavender Mist’ is readily propagated through cuttings. Six-inchcuttings, collected in August, root well in peat-perlite mix under mist.Asexual propagation at Griffin, Ga. since 2001 has shown that the uniquecharacteristics of this new cultivar are stable and reproduced true totype in successive generations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the characteristics ofthe new cultivar, showing the colors as true as it is reasonablypossible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in thephotograph may differ from the color values listed in the detailedbotanical description which accurately describes the colors of the newabelia.

FIG. 1. 4 year-old plant showing growth habit and heavy blooming, takenJun. 19, 2003.

FIG. 2. Lavender flowers against the green leaves giving the foliage agrey—green hue, taken Jun. 16, 2004.

FIG. 3. Lavender flowers with straw—green/rose sepals, taken Sep. 22,2004.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The botanical description of ‘Lavender Mist’ is based on 4-year oldplants growing in the field in Griffin, Ga. (USDA Zone 7b). Colors arebased on The Royal Horticultural Color Chart (2001). Unless otherwiseindicated, average measurements, based on 10 to 20 samples, were takenin July/August of 2005.

The plant has a spreading upright habit attaining an average growthheight of 159 cm and width of 290 cm after 4-years unpruned growth inthe field.

Current year stems are round, 1.5 mm in diameter, puberulent with a mixof short and longer hairs, mostly curved, and are Greyed—Orange 166B incolor. The stems show no exfoliation. The average internode length is 17mm.

Older stems are round, up to 10 to 12 mm in diameter and vary in colorfrom Greyed—Orange 174C to Grey 201B and Brown 200B with maturation. Thetexture becomes rough with striated exfoliation.

The vegetative buds are opposite, imbricate, lanceolate in shape, 2 mmlong by 1 mm wide, with sparse pubescence mainly along the edges, with 3scales, Greyed—Red 178B in color. There are 2 vegetative buds at eachnode, at 45° to the stem.

The mature leaf is 26 mm long by 14 mm wide. It is simple, obtuselyovate in shape with an obtuse apex, obtuse base and slightly crenate,almost sinuate margin. The upper surface is mostly glabrous and thelower surface is densely pubescent along the mid vein and sparselypubescent on the edges and smaller veins. The leaves are slightly waxy,0.3 mm thick and mostly opposite on the stem. The venation is simplealternate. The main veins are Yellow—Green 145D to Green 139D and thesmall veins are Greyed—Purple N186A to Yellow—Green 147A in color.

The emerging leaves (March) are Greyed—Orange 166A at the tip andYellow—Green 144A at the base on the upper surface, and Greyed—Red 178Aat the tip on the lower surface. In summer the leaves are Yellow—Green146A to 147A, or Green 137A on the upper and Green 143C on the lowersurface. In the fall the upper surface is Yellow—Green 147A with lowersurfaces Green 139D. In winter the upper surface is Greyed—Purple N186A,with lower surface Yellow—Green 145D to Green 139D.

The petiole is slightly curved, slightly convex, 2 to 5 mm in length and1 to 1.5 mm in diameter, mostly glabrous and Yellow—Green 144A withYellow—Green 147A edges to Yellow—Green 144B with Greyed—Purple N186Aedges.

The flower buds are elongated teardrop in shape, 11 mm long by 4 mmwide, covered in short hairs, some glandular, and Red—Purple 63C incolor. The buds show from mid spring to frost.

The inflorescence is a compound panicle, 11 to 20 cm long and 8 to 20 cmwide, with 5 to 10 sub panicles 5 to 8 cm long and 4 to 6 cm wide with aterminal cluster 6 to 10 cm long and 5 to 6 cm wide. The color is Purple77C at emergence, Purple 77D at full bloom, fading to Purple 76D.

The peduncle has short curved hairs, some glandular, and isGreyed—Orange 176B over Yellow—Green 144B.

There are 200 to 400 flowers at various stages of bloom perinflorescence. The flower is funnel shaped, slightly tubular, andgamopetalous. The whole flower is 18 mm by 14 mm with five lobes roundedand slightly curled. The margin is slightly curled. The base is funnelshaped with a short tube approximately one third the length of theflower. The flower is covered in short hairs, with longer hairs towardsthe throat of the calyx. At peak of bloom, the color of the uppersurface is Purple 77D and the lower surface is Purple 75B.

The pedicels are 4 mm long, with bracteoles and tiny hairs, andGreyed—Orange 176B over Yellow—Green 144B in color.

There are usually 4 sepals, occasionally 5, many gamosepalous with 2 or3 lobes. They are 6 mm long by 2 mm wide, elliptic in shape withsubacute apex, subattenuate base and some with entire margin or with 2or 3 clefts. They are covered in short hairs, and are Red—Purple 63B atthe tips, fading to Green 142C at the base, on both upper and lowersurfaces.

There are 4 stamens.

The anther is dorsifixed, revolute, 2 mm long by 0.5 mm wide andYellow—White 158D in color.

The filament is 12 mm long and 0.3 mm wide and has scattered hairs. Thecolor is White N155B.

The pollen color is White N155B.

The pistil is inferior, monostylus, free in shape, 22 mm long by 2 mmwide.

The stigma is circular, dome shaped, punticulate, with clear shorthair-like structures and is Yellow—White 158A in color.

The style is tubular in shape, 16 mm long, glabrous, and Orange—White159D in color.

The single ovary is oval in shape with no pubescence.

The fruit is an achene, a grooved cylindrical capsule in shape, 6 mmlong and 2 mm wide with 1 carpel. The color matures from Green 143C toGreyed—Orange 166A.

The seed are cylindrical, grooved longitudinally in shape, 6 mm long by2 mm wide, covered in short hairs, and are Greyed—Orange 166A in color.

No insect or disease problems have been noted in container plantsmaintained outside the greenhouse, or in field grown plants.

1. A new and distinct cultivar of abelia plant named ‘Lavender Mist’,substantially as illustrated and described.